Napkin dispenser

ABSTRACT

A disposable napkin dispenser having a raised collar defining a discharge opening and a spring-loaded follower for delivering napkins to the discharge opening. A pair of primary roller guide retainers extend across the discharge opening in parallel relation to each other to retain napkins inside the dispenser and to facilitate their removal therefrom and a pair of secondary centering guide retainers are connected across the top of the primary roller guide retainers in perpendicular relation thereto.

United States atent [191 Williams et al.

[ 51 Apr. 10, 1973 I54] NAPKIN DISPENSER [75] Inventors: Glen L. Williams; George W.

Church, Jr.; Ronald A. Miller, all 0 San Antonio, Tex.

[73] Assignee: Churchs Fried Chicken, Inc., San

Antonio, Tex.

[22] Filed: Nov. 4, 1970 [21] Appl. No.: 86,771

[52] US. Cl ..221/59 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65h 1/08 [58] Field of Search [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 813,594 2/1906 Sexton ..221/52 1,583,293 5/1926 Horwitt ..221/63 X 1,682,580 8/1928 Pratt ..221/52 X 2,253,742 8/1941 West et al.. ..221/52 2,534,169 12/1950 Hope ..221/59 X Primary ExaminerSamuel F. Coleman Attorney-Donald R. Comuzzi [57] ABSTRACT A disposable napkin dispenser having a raised collar defining a discharge opening and a spring-loaded follower for delivering napkins to the discharge opening. A pair of primary roller guide retainers extend across the discharge opening in parallel relation to each other to retain napkins inside the dispenser and to facilitate their removal therefrom and a pair of secondary centering guide retainers are connected across the top of the primary roller guide retainers in perpendicular relation thereto.

5 Claim, 2 Drawing Figures PATENTEUAPRIOIW s;72s;435

INVENTORS Ronald A. Miller George W. Church Jr. Glenn L.Willioms NAPKIN DISPENSER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to a dispenser for disposable napkins, paper towels and the like and more specifically, to such dispensers as are used on service counters of fast-service carry-out restaurants.

Napkin dispensers which are commonly in use today are not satisfactory for use on service counters of fastservice carryout restaurants because they are generally difficult to refill and consequently are often left empty creating an inconvenience to the customer as well as to the restaurant employees. Furthermore, even when the dispensers are filled, it is difficult to extract the napkins therefrom in a proper manner. Usually if the dispenser is completely filled, the napkins will bind on the edges of the discharge opening and tear as they are being extracted. This causes customer irritation which results in the napkins being incorrectly removed from the dispenser as by inserting the fingers into the discharge opening and around the edges of the napkins and extracting numerous napkins at one time, thus resulting in waste and unnecessary expense. Another disadvantage of the currently used napkin dispensers is that the dispensers are normally placed on the service counters in a free standing position and are therefore constantly being overturned or removed. Furthermore, the customer must hold on to the dispenser when attempting to extract napkins therefrom.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The apparatus of this invention comprises a dispenser for disposable napkins, paper towels and the like which is particularly suitable for use on service counters of fast-service carry-out restaurants and which overcomes many of the problems encountered in the use of prior art napkin dispensers for such service.

The apparatus consists of a housing which can be mounted in an opening in the service counter thereby preventing accidental overturning and removal and eliminating the need to hold on to the dispenser when extracting napkins therefrom.

The dispenser housing has a discharge opening at its top for easy removal of the napkins. A raised collar is mounted on top of I the housing and defines the discharge opening. The housing in its preferred use is positioned with the discharge opening in a horizontal plane, however, it will be understood that the apparatus may be used with the discharge opening in a vertical plane.

A spring-loaded follower is slidably mounted inside the housing for delivering napkins which are stacked thereon, to the discharge opening, thus the dispenser need not be full of napkins to work properly as is true with known prior art dispensers.

Primary roller guide retention means are connected to the raised collar and extend across the discharge opening for retaining the napkins inside the housing and facilitating their removal therefrom. Secondary centering guide retainer means are mounted across the top of the primary roller guide retaining means in perpendicular relation thereto. These secondary centering guide retainer means serve to guide the napkins as they are being extracted from the discharge opening as well as to prevent the inserting of a finger into the edge of the discharge opening for removal of quantities of napkins atone time.

Due to the unique arrangement of the primary roller guide retainers, the secondary centering guide retainers and the spring-loaded follower, the fold size of the napkins is not critical. Furthermore, an interlocking fold is not required and the dispenser can be refilled easily by merely inserting the napkins through the discharge opening.

It is a primary objective of this invention to provide a napkin dispenser which is suitable for use on service counters of fast-service carry-out restaurants and which will be easy to refill with practically any size of paper napkin thus insuring that napkins are generally available to the customer, that is easy to use so that the customer may extract napkins singularly with one hand without frustration, that is not susceptible to overturning or removal and is not subject to contamination from food particles and other foreign matter which is brushed into the dispenser.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the apparatus of this in-' vention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the apparatus taken along lines 2-2 of FIG. I and depicting the dispenser in its preferred position on a restaurant service counter.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a housing 1 of rectangular cross-section having a bottom closure plate 2. The bottom closure plate 2 is provided with vertical peripheral flanges 3 which engage the inside walls of the housing 1. Fastening means 4, such as screws, removably connect the bottom closure plate to the housing 1.

A spring-loaded follower 5 having peripheral depending flanges 6 is slidably mounted inside the housing 1 and positioned generally parallel to the bottom closure plate 2. Spring means such as coil spring 7 are connected to the bottom closure plate at their one end through pressed slots 10 cut in the bottom closure plate 3. Springs 7 support the following 5 and are connected to the bottom side of the follower by some suitable fastening means such as pressed slots 20 cut in the follower 5. The peripheral flanges 6 on the follower 5 extend adjacent to and along the inside walls of the housing 1 for a length sufficient to prevent the follower from skewing and thereby binding in its travel through the housing 1. It will be readily apparent that the springs 7 are placed in compression when napkins are stacked on top of the follower 5 and the follower is pressed toward the bottom closure plate 2.

A raised collar 8 having a channel shape cross-section is peripherally mounted around the upper edge of the housing 1. The collar 8 has an outside peripheral flange 9 depending downwardly from the upper surface thereof and an inner peripheral flange ll likewise depending downwardly from its upper surface. The inner flange 11 engages the inside walls of the housing 1 and is connected thereto by suitable fastening means such as spot welds 12.

The raised collar 8 defines a discharge opening 13 for the removal of napkins therethrough. The opening 13 is also used for the insertion of napkins during the refilling operation. Extending across the opening and connected to the inner flanges 11 is a pair of roller guide retainers consisting of rods 14 which carry rotatable rollers 15 such as plastic tubing mounted around the rods 14. The roller guide retainers retain the napkins inside the housing and the rollers prevent binding of the napkins on the retention bars and thus facilitate removal of the napkins from the dispenser. For ease of removal and replacement, the rollers may be split tubing which can be snapped over the rods 14. Secondary centering bar guides 16 are connected across the roller guide retainers and are connected to the rods 14 as by welding. These centering bar guides prevent removal of the napkins from the side of the discharge opening and guide them as they are being removed through the discharge opening. The guides 16 are mounted on top of the roller guide retainers so that the guides 16 are not in pressurized contact with the napkins.

When used in its preferred position, as depicted in FIG. 2, the napkin dispenser is vertically positioned in an opening 21 provided in a service counter 22. The dispenser is freely inserted in the opening 21 with the flanges 9 of the raised collar 8 engaging the service counter 22 and therebysupporting the dispenser in the opening. As can be seen from the drawing, the raised collar supports the napkin dispenser in a position on the service counter such that the upper surface of the collar is elevated above the level of the service counter thereby preventing food particles and other foreign matter from being brushed into the interior of the housing 1.

, Obviously, numerous modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein.

What is claimed is: 1. A dispenser for disposable napkins comprising a. a housing having a napkin discharge opening therein, b. a spring-loaded follower slideably mounted inside the housing for delivering napkinsto the discharge opening,

primary retainer means positioned in said discharge opening for retaining napkins inside the housing and facilitating their removal therefrom, said primary retaining means including d. a pair of elongated retainer rods extending across the discharge opening in spaced parallel relation to each other and positioned inwardly from the side of said discharge opening toward the center of the opening,

. a tubular roller mounted on each of said rods and positioned to engage the napkins in said housing,

f. centering guide means associated with said primary retaining means, said centering guide means including a pair of guide rods secured to the retainer rods at substantially right angles thereto and on the side thereof remote from the napkins in said housing,

the guide rods being positioned inwardly toward rollers whereby said centering guide means centers napkins as they are withdrawn and is out of contact with the napkins except while they are being withdrawn.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said rollers are plastic tubes rotatably mounted around said rods.

3.'The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said discharge opening is defined by a raised collar peripherally mounted around the end of said housing, said collar supporting said primary retainer means and said centering guide means. V

4. The apparatus'of claiml wherein said housing is closed at one end with a closure plate connected thereto, said closure plate having spring means mounted thereon and extending inside said housing, said spring means supporting said follower in parallel spaced relation to said closure plate.

5. The apparatus of claim 4' wherein said follower has peripheral flanges depending therefrom in contiguous sliding engagement with the inside walls of the housing. 

1. A dispenser for disposable napkins comprising a. a housing having a napkin discharge opening therein, b. a spring-loaded follower slideably mounted inside the housing for delivering napkins to the discharge opening, c. primary retainer means positioned in said discharge opening for retaining napkins inside the housing and facilitating their removal therefrom, said primary retaining means including d. a pair of elongated retainer rods extending across the discharge opening in spaced parallel relation to each other and positioned inwardly from the side of said discharge opening toward the center of the opening, e. a tubular roller mounted on each of said rods and positioned to engage the napkins in said housing, f. centering guide means associated with said primary retaining means, said centering guide means including g. a pair of guide rods secured to the retainer rods at substantially right angles thereto and on the side thereof remote from the napkins in said housing, the guide rods being positioned inwardly toward the center of the discharge opening and spaced from each other on opposite sides of said tubular rollers, whereby said centering guide means centers napkins as they are withdrawn and is out of contact with the napkins except while they are being withdrawn.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said rollers are plastic tubes rotatably mounted around said rods.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said discharge opening is defined by a raised collar peripherally mounted around the end of said housing, said collar supporting said primary retainer means and said centering guide means.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said housing is closed at one end with a closure plate connected thereto, said closure plate having spring means mounted thereon and extending inside said housing, said spring means supporting said follower in parallel spaced relation to said closure plate.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 wherein said follower has peripheral flanges depending therefrom in contiguous sliding engagement with the inside walls of the housing. 